Skull & shackles (Inactive)

Game Master DBH

You can fit a longboat in easily, it's only the height that is a problem. You couldn't fit the Drake in without removing it's mast.

The ship marked with the star is the Devish duchess.

Perception checks from everyone as you draw clsoer please.

"Looks like that's the boat we're looking for," Marnir says, pointing over to one of the fresher and more intact looking ships. He begins to slowly row over towards it, looking around as he does so.

Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (1) + 21 = 22 Too busy rowing it seems.

Kung peers across the water at the wrecked hulk of the Devish Duchess.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

Niobe blushes slightly from Callidora's smooch, then joins her in diving into the water and matching course with the rowboat with her friends.

Perception: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38

Neither of the ladies can see anything in the ink black waters, your longboat bumps against the sides of the ship you are seeking.

What are you doing now?

Perception: Callidora(low light vision): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31
Perception: Cioldryss(darkvison 60'): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19

Slipping silently into the water alongside Niobe, Callidora swims alongside the boat as well. Finding the absolute darkness too deep to penetrate, the sea witch utters a chant in aquan, conjuring a quartet of lights that resemble lanterns (and cast that amount of light) 50ft ahead of them, each 5 ft apart in a diamond formation.

With Niobe and Cally on the hunt below the water, Marnir hops over the gunwale onto the Devilish Duchess and ties up the longboat before drawing his axe and stalking towards the aft of the ship.

When Marnir boards the ship three of the undead dart out of the water onto the deck.

Another sprints out of the dark waters at Callidora.

The party can now act. The one in the water double moved this round.

"Undead on deck!" calls to the others before spotting that Cally and Niobe have found one of their own. He strides towards the nearest creature, swinging his axe to loosen his arm as he begins a harsh, gutteral Ulfen chant full of hatred and revenge.

Carefully crossing the derelict ship's deck he speeds up as he approaches the foul-looking undead and brings his axe down towards it.

Inspired rage starts as combat begins, Swift Action to use Arcane Strike, Move Action to move 30ft, Standard Action to attack green.

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (3) + 29 = 32

Kung steps onto the deck in Marnir's wake, anxious to dismember some dark watery undead. He nimbly picks his way across the deck, his rage already beginning; the chaotic rhythm of his pegleg somehow doesn't interrupt Kung's movement, instead adding a syncopated counterpoint to his steps. He spins when he gets to Marnir's side, his greatsword following through in a wide arc towards the undead creature.

Marnir misses, but Kung does his job and hacks brutally into it with his balde.

Callidora & Niobe?

Niobe has embarrassingly little magic to work underwater for a mermaid. As one of the undead rushes out to attack Callidora, she moves to intercept with a healing spell, hoping that the positive energy will prove anathema to the undead.

Touch attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

But she misses.

fort save vs Ice prison: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
damage: 3d8 ⇒ (5, 4, 5) = 14

Callidora takes a 5' step back and uses her witch magic to try and imprison the creature, but it is too strong and ignores the ice that tries to encase it.

it moves up to her and attacks.

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 6 = 13

One hits and sends disease through her blood.

Fort save DC20 please Callidora.

Red & Yellow rush across the slippery wet deck and attack Kung.

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23
claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

Both miss pathetically!

Green lashes out at Marnir.

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18

Both miss pathetically! Again dammit!

The party may now act.

Callidora shudders as the creature's claws rake her flesh, a toxic chill coursing through her blood.

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Will post my action once I know how I'm affected

Marnir easily ducks the clumsly claws of the undead and laughs loudly at their ineptitude. He brings his axe down in an attempt to scythe through the rotten flesh before him, all the while chanting his war song.

Fast healing 4 kicks in from Skald's Vigor, Free Action to continue inspired rage, Swift Action to use Arcane Strike, Full Round Action to full attack green (sending my second attack into red in the event my first attack finishes it off).

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (3) + 29 = 32

Axe attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (7) + 29 = 36

Kung pivots on his pegleg as the other two undead creatures approach, the only pause in the rhythmic tapping of his pegleg that his rage causes. His eyes sparkle and his toothy grin grows wide as they arrive, his greatsword already following the arc of his pivot and smashing into the ugly monstrosities even as their teeth surge towards his flesh.

After his attack, he deftly steps between the two creatures.

Callidora. It's a disease with onset time of 1 minute. You're fine right now.

Marnir chops into his opponent lustily, it still stands though.

Kung tries to end his foe, but like his captains it endures his assault.

Niobe?

Swimming backward, Callidora once again invokes the icy depths to swallow her undead assailant.

Accursed Hex(repeat) Ice Tomb: 3d8 ⇒ (3, 7, 8) = 18

Touch attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Niobe lashes out to channel a pulse of positive energy into Callidora's attacker.

Cure serious wounds: 3d8 + 11 ⇒ (8, 5, 7) + 11 = 31

fort save vs ice prison: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

The creature is now encased in ice and paralyzed. Niobe's touch attacked sears him with healing energy.

That Accursed hex is a nice trick.

Green attacks Marnir

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33
claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 6 = 11

Fort save DC20 Please Marnir.

Yellow & Red try to rend Kung into pieces.

claw Red: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18
claw Red: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23
claw Yellow: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17
claw Yellow: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 1) + 6 = 12

Fort save DC20 Please Kung.

The party may now act.

5 mirror images, hit on 1: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Marnir's magical protections fail him for a moment as undead claws slice a bright line of pain across his left arm.

Fort save: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Drawing on his rage and hate for these monstrosities Marnir continues to press the attack, his axe slicing through the air again and again.

Fast healing 4 heals me up a little, Free Action to continue inspired rage, Swift Action to use Arcane Strike, Full Round Action to full attack green (if my first attack kills green I'll 5ft step to flank red then attack red with my second attack).

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (6) + 29 = 35

Axe attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (6) + 29 = 35

Blur, 20% miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 89
Fortitude DC 20, grand destiny: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 14 + 4 = 26

Kung expends no mental effort worrying about the wound, festering or not. He swings his greatsword in another pair of great arc, his pegleg tapping away the whole time.

Noting that her magic did little, Niobe desperately falls back to her spear.

Obsidian spear attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Obsidian spear iterative attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Obsidian spear confirm crit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Obsidian spear damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Niobe, your attack confirmed it's critical. He's flat footed at the moment.

Marnir & Kung brutally hack two of the things to death. Both of the monsters immediately melt into 10' puddles of deadly poison.

Fort save DC20 from you two please. I'm ruling that since it ends up as one puddle you only need to save the once.

Callidora?

Seeing the effect of Nibe's healing spell, Callidora conjures healing energy as well, delivering it with a touch.

CMW: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (6, 4) + 10 = 20

Obsidian spear crit damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2) + 4 = 9

Did Kung take the optional 5' step described in my post?

Fortitude DC 20, grand destiny: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 4 = 21

Fort save: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Yes, Kung got his 5' step and you are both flanking red.

Callidora & Niobe finish off the paralyzed one, but it dissolves into a 10' cloud of poison. Fort saves DC20 please :)

Red takes 5' step away from Kung and slashes at Marnir. :)

Int 15, so it's much smarter than Kung.

claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36
claw: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 2) + 6 = 13

The party can now act. Finish him.

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Oh dear

Fort save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

5 mirror images, hit on 1: 1d6 ⇒ 4

This time Marnir's spell saves him from a raking slash of the ghoul-thing's claws and the previous wound continues to close as Marnir maneouvres, stepping back alongside the creature to press the attack.

Fast healing 4 heals me up a little, Free Action to continue inspired rage, Free Action to 5ft step, Swift Action to use Arcane Strike, Full Round Action to full attack red.

Axe attack: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (3) + 29 = 32

Axe attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28
Damage: 1d8 + 29 ⇒ (2) + 29 = 31

When the creature steps away, Kung stays close, stepping almost in time with the creature... though his pegleg adds its own off-kilter cadence to the clicks and stomps on the decking. Step Up/Following Step: immediate action on the opponent's turn; Marnir gets a +2 flanking bonus to his attacks

Opposite the many Marnir's that flank the creature with him, Kung weaves his blade back and forth through the creature's midsection, attempting to simple halve the creature and be done with it.

The two on deck finish off the last of the loathsome creatures.

Treasure: Much of the cargo once carried by the ships here has fallen into the water below and has been destroyed, but the PCs can still find a fair amount of plunder in the cargos of the four still-seaworthy ships.
In all, there are 8 points of plunder to be had from these four ships.

In addition, a successful DC30 Perception check made while searching the captain's cabin of the Devilish Duchess reveals a small hidden panel in a beam just above a slowly moldering hammock. Scags kept his small hoard of private treasures in a hollow within this beam.

Although Scags thought none of his crew knew about this secret stash,
his first mate Alise Grogblud did, and she tells the PCs about the hidden cache, so they can locate it automatically.

Scags's treasures consist of a leather pouch containing
120 pp,
an exceptionally well-carved ivory statuette of two entwined succubi worth 500 gp,
three bottles of fine spiced Sargavan rum worth 250 gp each,
two potions of remove disease,
a potion of cure serious wounds,
and a bottle of air.

In addition, a small leather journal is wedged in the hollow. This journal contains a detailed accounting of Scags's grievances against his former captain, Barnabas Harrigan.

The bulk of the journal is relatively useless, although the PCs may take some level of satisfaction at reading another person voicing their complaints about their shared enemy. Near the back of the journal, Scags makes clear his fears that, as long as the both of them live,
Harrigan will never cease in his attempts to track Scags down and kill him for daring to abandon the Wormwood.

The back of the journal contains numerous notes about how Scags hopes to some day invade Harrigan's fortress in the middle of the night and assassinate him. While Scags never had the guts to carry out these plans, his research is solid-he'd visited Harrigan's fortress many times before he left the man's employ, and the PCs can use these notes
to great effect in Part Four of this adventure.

The true treasures here, however, may well be the four derelict ship s-while they lack masts, the four ships are in remarkably good shape. If the PCs can salvage them, they'll gain four new sailing ships for their fleet.

Rescue & Repairs
The four sailing ships found in area As are badly damaged-each has only 400 hit points remaining (with o hit points for the sails) and cannot sail at all until the masts are repaired.

If the PCs choose to make repairs here, they'll be attacked by group s of brykolakases every night (sometimes more than once a night), but the PCs can tow the ships back to a safe port to repair them.

More importantly, if the PCs return from Dagon's Jaws with four new ships and the rescued castaways, word quickly spreads. The PCs gain 1 point of Disrepute and Infamy for this accomplishment, but more importantly, the proof that they braved the so- called "curse of Dagon's Jaws" and not only survived, but returned with additional
ships and crew, quickly attracts enough new sailors thatthey can crew the four ships recovered here free of cost.

What now?

So I'm under the effect of both the poison, and the disease right?

Poison (Dex): 1d6 ⇒ 4
Brykolakas fever (Dex): 1d4 ⇒ 1
Brykolakas fever (Con): 1d4 ⇒ 1

As the poisoned water fills her lungs, and her wounds begin to burn, Callidora shudders violently before beginning to have trouble swimming, her body having difficulty responding.

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Poison (Dex): 1d6 ⇒ 3

Marnir wipes his axe clean on a scrap of fallen sailcloth as he makes his way back to the Drake's boat, his pace increasing as he sees Cally struggling in the water. "Cally, are you OK?" he calls, leaping into the boat and reaching over the gunwale to help pull her aboard. "Niobe, I think she's sick" he says as he quickly looks over her wounds.

Cally are you OK? Are you OK? Are you OK Cally? You've been hit by, you've been struck, a brykolakas!

LMAO!!!

Kung makes his way back to the Drake with Marnir, helping to aid Cally however he can--though that's little more than providing a bit of muscle.

Loot sheet updated, though I forget the gold piece value of a unit of plunder (should I track plunder separately?)

Niobe says, "I think I have just the thing. Callie, come over here where I can see what's ailing you."

Heal: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (10) + 19 = 29 To diagnose the affliction(s).

"Ugh, the poison!"

Neutralize poison: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

"And the infection from the claws!"

Remove disease: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

"It'll take a couple days for her to be back to full strength."

"I don't feel so great myself..."

Neutralize poison potion sponge: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 No effect.

Fort save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19 Failed both saves.

Total Dex damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 5) = 11

Niobe manages to cure what ails Callie, but she herself succumbs to the shakes from the poison, and is barely able to move.

You can have others in your crew heal Niobe. I know that Mad Hetty has Neutralize poison on her list, though it will be the next day so Niobe has to suffer overnight.

What are you doing with the ships?

"Let's get you both back to the Drake, we can come back for the salvage later," Marnir says, hauling up the anchor and making ready to get back to the ship. He indicates for Kung to grab one of the oars and they make their way back to the Drake as quickly as possible to get Niobe and Cally the healing they need.

Once everyone is better...

"I reckon with a bit of work we can get those ships out of there," Marnir muses. "They're in pretty good nick, just need remasting and a bit of basic fixing up. We could keep them, or sell them off." He looks around at the others for their input.

I'm in favour of trying to tow them back to somewhere friendly for repairs.

Recovering somewhat and feeling some of her mobility return, Callidora's relief turns to horror as she sees the Niobe succumb to the same poison. "Oh no! Niobe! Here, I can help." she says bringing a potion sponge to Niobe's mouth.

Neutralize poison potion sponge: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Niobe accepts the additional potion sponge and, fortunately, it manages to help fight off the worst of the shakes, though she still has a bit of a tremor in her hands. She wobbles and then says with a wan smile, "I don't think I'll be able to stand up on the deck until this heals."

It's going to be hard work getting those ships out as you can't sail the Drake into the cave, so it'll be longboats towing them out.

And some Profession sailor to maneuver them with banging on the walls. So a Profession Sailor DC25 for the person directing the towing please.

Kung takes position at the rear of Marnir's longboat, helping the captain keep an eye for rocks and reefs as Marnir guides the towing operation out of the cove.

Profession (sailor), savage sailor, aid another DC 10: 1d20 + 11 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 3 = 27

You are just to the SW of Motaku Isle, the closest port to you is Ollo, which is run by your old chum Avimar Sorrinash. So you might want to head to Quent to sell or repair your 4 hulls.

What are you doing now?

I can't fail that Profession (sailor) check thanks to Kung's assistance, though it looks like he could have managed most of the work himself!

Marnir spends the next few hours guiding the ship's longboats into the cave and organising the salvage effort. With Kung keeping a weather eye and holding the grumbling crew in check the work progresses swiftly and the four mostly intact hulls are soon corralled around the Drake.

Marnir calls up some of his most experienced hands, including Aliss and her crew, and assigns a skeleton crew to each of the hulls to perform some basic repairs, start bailing out any flooding, and man the rudders as they begin the arduous work of towing the four stricken vessels away.

As the crow flies, we're actually closer to Tidewater Rock than Quent. Given the work that was being done last time we were there, and the state of the burgeoning docks, it might be worth taking them to the Rock for repair and refit, then adding them to the fleet. Thoughts?